Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives $210.69 Consensus PT from Analysts

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $214.5385.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Paradiem LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $13,652,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% in the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at $4,713,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after purchasing an additional 433,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% in the third quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Quest Diagnostics

Here are the key news stories impacting Quest Diagnostics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat and guidance raised: DGX reported adjusted EPS of $2.50 and revenue of $2.90B (?+9.2% YoY) and raised FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $10.63–$10.83, supporting the bullish case for steady routine testing demand. Quest Diagnostics Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price?target lifts and favorable notes: Multiple firms bumped targets (Barclays to $230/overweight; Baird to $229; UBS to $220; Truist to $225), reflecting confidence that beat + raised outlook justify higher valuations. These Analysts Boost Their Forecasts On Quest Diagnostics After Better-Than-Expected Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Operational drivers: Management cited strong organic volume, partnerships, consumer testing momentum and AI initiatives as contributors to revenue growth and the improved outlook. Quest Diagnostics Gains Steam With Partnerships, Lifts Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/strategy writeups: Coverage pieces (Zacks, Yahoo/Seeking Alpha) frame DGX as a momentum/value story post?earnings — useful context but not new company guidance. Here’s Why Quest Diagnostics (DGX) is a Strong Momentum Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call materials and transcript are available for detail on margins, volumes and segment commentary if you want to validate management’s assumptions. Quest Diagnostics Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and institutional trimming: Reports show significant insider sales and large institutional position reductions by some managers in recent quarters — these can cap near?term upside and fuel profit?taking. Quest Diagnostics rises after Q1 earnings beat and higher 2026 outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction/technical pressure: The stock surged on the beat and guidance lift; the current pullback with above?average volume looks like intraday profit?taking and rotation despite fundamentally positive news.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $203.77 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $164.65 and a 12 month high of $213.50. The stock has a market cap of $22.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $200.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.31%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.